In fourth grade, we came home from boarding school over the holidays, our interim reports in hand. We lined up in front of Father’s desk and handed them to him, one after the other. Mine had two Ds. After handing him the paper, I turned on my heel and walked myself down to the dungeon. It was the last time he bothered punishing me for my own deeds. After that, if I came home with an unsatisfactory grade, it’d be Lex kneeling in front of the fireplace–or worse, it’d be Wicker getting dressed in his finest tuxedo for a night out with the only woman I’ve ever wanted to kill.
